One of the most precious things that happens on a wedding day is uncovering the behind-the-scenes stories and details that aren’t shared with everyone. In fact, I love this so much that we’ve made it a new goal of ours to try to notice the special little things and remember them, so that we can share them after the wedding day. Ariel and Alex’s wedding day at Olympic Hills Golf Club in Eden Prairie had so many of them, though, that we might not be able to share them all, but we’ll try!

I still remember the first moment Travis called to tell me about her. I was outside pushing my kids on the swings in the late August sun, and he randomly called - something he hadn’t done in a little while. He began to excitedly share all about Crown College’s welcome weekend, and finally he got to talking about her (the girl Josiah had hinted at in our family group text with a photo earlier that week). Emma was her name, and Travis was pretty smitten. We talked for the next few weeks about how things were going, what she was like, and what he could/should do with liking her. Flash forward to the day of our family photos – yes, on top of everything else in capturing a proposal we thought we’d try to throw Emma off by taking our family photos (pretty sure she was too smart still but we tried!) It’s not every shoot that you get to capture a proposal, and it’s even less likely for it to be your brother the one proposing. In fact, for me, that chance is two in a lifetime, as I had previously taken photos for my sister’s surprise engagement (no pressure to make it three, J ;D)! Anyways, when Travis shared he was getting ready to propose and that he wanted us there to capture it the answer was, “OF COURSE.” Josiah joining in on the fun again to capture the day? Yes, please! Who wouldn’t want three photographers in order to make sure we would get at least one solid angle! The tricky part was when he shared he wanted to take them in our area at Vermillion Falls. We LOVE Vermillion Falls, but if you’ve been there, you know there really aren’t that many angles you can take from with all the trees, bushes, and, well, falls. But we were up for the challenge, which meant that I went weeks in advance to take photos and videos while I walked the area to get an idea of what we would do.

Whenever you stay twenty minutes just chatting about life and its many choices after a photo shoot, I can’t help be grateful for the job that we do. To be able to walk with others through life’s craziest ups and downs is something we do not take for granted and regularly remind each other of how precious it is. This happened when we took the Leppke family’s photos a few weeks back. Jenna & I stood and chatted while her hubby chased their smiling and giggly kiddos through the leaves.

The only thing better than hanging out with a couple on their wedding day is hanging out again after the wedding day to celebrate the coming of a little baby! This was definitely the case of Matt & Laura’s maternity photos at Woodland Trailhead Park in Elk River. We captured their wedding day photos last May at the Grands at Mulligans in Sartell, MN, so to come full circle and be capturing their maternity photos now was absolutely so much fun! Some other things that came full circle? Matt had given his groomsmen each individualized suphero cufflinks as a gift, and now we took a few photos of them with a superhero onesie to celebrate their little bambino!

It’s hard to believe how quickly Minnesota can turn, but here I stand looking out my window at the snow on the ground only three weeks after Grady, his mom, and I walked the trails at Afton State Park for his senior photos on an absolutely gorgeous & crisp fall night.